Author: Paul Sober

Beans are delicious and good for you in many different ways. Fermented beans are even more delicious and even better for your health. Fermenting beans has a variety of benefits and it’s pretty easy to do.

Benefits of fermenting beans

Beans are famous for their health giving properties and for causing flatulence. Beans contain a particular combination of fiber and protein, which is perfect for fermenting in your digestive tract. Beans contain also anti-nutrients, making them a little more difficult to digest.

The process of fermentation mitigates all these issues, making them easier to digest and less likely to cause offensive gas. Bokashi bacteria are capable of consuming the carbohydrates in the beans and converting it into lactic acid while breaking down some of the proteins. They also break down the anti-nutrients and make micro-nutrients more available to your body.

Fermentation also reduces cooking time, and the resultant energy cost. Fermented beans don’t require refrigeration, so there is energy savings there as well. In many communities, energy cost is an important consideration.

How to ferment beans

The process of fermenting beans is fairly simple.

Rinse and clean the beans – Make sure to remove any stones or pebbles and discolored beans.

Soak the beans – Soaking the beans in lightly salted water for 3-24 hours. Soaking helps to improve the digestibility in the beans by activating enzymes within the bean that begin the breakdown process

Cook the beans – Cooking the beans gets them ready for the bacteria. They only need to simmer until they begin to soften. The fermentation process will take care of the rest.

Cool the beans – They don’t need to be cold. Actually, you want the beans to be a little warm when you add the bacteria. Cold beans won’t ferment very well.

Inoculate – Add bokashi bacteria culture.

Store in a cool, dark place – The container that they’re stored in should be closed, but not air tight. The fermentation can generate gas, which needs to be released, so a loose fitting lid is just fine.

Check the beans after a few days and see how they’re progressing. They should smell a little ‘fermenty’ like apple cider or freshly made wine. A white film on top is totally normal.

Eat the beans – YUM!

Seasoning for fermented beans

You can add seasoning during cooking, during fermentation, or even after fermenting them. I personally prefer not to add seasoning until after everything is done so that I can taste the personality of the bean. For instance, if you ferment garbanzo beans, then you wouldn’t season it until the last step when you make some hummus out of it.

Another reason to delay seasoning is that some herbs can effect the process of fermentation. Rosemary, for instance, is anti-microbial so it can sterilize your preciously curated bacteria culture and leave the ferment open to opportunistic organisms.

Fermented seasonings also taste different then fermented seasonings.

You’re welcome to season to your hearts content at any stage of the process, but my personal recommendation is to season closer to serving unless you’re going for a specific effect.

How to tell if your fermentation is “good”

Once your fermentation is rolling along, if you’re fairly new to fermenting, you may begin to wonder if it’s going “as planned” The answer is, if it smells “bad”, then it probably is. If it smells “fermented”, then everything is fine. The more you ferment, the more you learn about fermenting.

Some other points about making bokashi beans

fermentation also works on seeds and nuts

fermenting foods makes them more paleo friendly

fermenting foods also increases levels of friendly bacteria in the atmosphere

Bokashi composting is an ancient method for converting agricultural wastes into useful soil amendments. For centuries, asian rice farmers have processed their agricultural wastes by piling them in trenches. Then they would cover the wastes with soil and fill the trenches with water. The wastes would then ferment for some time. Once the wastes were fermented, the farmers would add the compost to their fields.

It turns out that the “good soil” that they covered the wastes with contained important soil bacteria and yeasts. When the water was added, anaerobic bacteria and other micro-organisms got to work breaking down the materials. These bacteria would convert starches and other carbohydrates into inert acids, killed weed seeds and increased the bio-availability of nutrients in the soil. The result is a rich soil amendment that any self-respecting gardener would be happy to dig into their fields, planters or garden rows.

What is modern bokashi composting?

There are many variations to bokashi composting. If you go looking around you’ll find a wide variety of composting products that are designed to facilitate fermented decomposition. The main requirements for a bokashi system are:

anaerobic bacteria (primarily lactobacillus casei)

an enclosure of some type or some way to restrict oxygen

organic material

Modern compost fermentation methods are used to process a wide variety of bio-wastes including raw sewage and animal manure. Bokashi composting methods effectively kill pathogenic organisms present in these kinds of wastes and also kill seeds from potentially invasive plants. Bokashi composting methods greatly increase the safety of using these kinds of wastes as soil amendments.

Basic bokashi composting method

Organic material is inoculated with bacteria, oxygen is restricted and the material will ferment. Fermented wastes break down into the soil more rapidly. For most people, bokashi fermentation systems work something like this:

Food scraps go into a bucket – The bucket should have a tight fitting lid and no ventilation. Most bucket lids will release pressure that may build up due to fermentation. It is necessary to be careful about lids that seal too tightly. A pressurized bucket may burst, making a big stinky fermented mess. Drilling a tiny hole (1/16 ” or 0.5 mm) in the lid will sufficiently release pressure without allowing excess oxygen into the container.

Inoculate the food scraps – There are many different ways to introduce bokashi bacteria into your compost. Most people use bokashi bran, which is rice or wheat bran that has been partially fermented and then dried out. Another method is to use a spray bottle of bacteria culture and occasionally spray the compost directly with the bacteria culture.

Bury the compost – After the scraps have fermented for at least a week at room temperature, they can be buried into the soil. Fermented food scraps decay rapidly into the soil and generally do not attract the attention of animals or insects. As the food scraps decay, the pH will gradually change from acidic to more basic. If there are compost worms present in the soil surrounding the compost, they will move in and finish off the composting process.

It sounds complicated maybe, but it’s actually very simple. The process safely and sanitarily converts food wastes into a useful soil amendment.

Origins of modern bokashi composting

In the 70’s, a Japanese college professor, named Dr. Teruo Higa, collected a culture of environmental lactic acid bacteria from a farm in rural Japan. His methods and that bacteria culture are currently being used around the world for a wide variety of uses.

Chicken farmers are using the bokashi method to turn their potentially toxic chicken wastes into a safe, rich fertilizer. Banana farmers and coconut farmers in tropical areas are converting their agricultural waste from a nuisance into a useful soil amendment. Adding compost to the soil greatly increases soil fertility, which results in increased output and increased crop quality with reduced input requirements.

Benefits of compost in the soil

There are several ways that compost improves the quality of soil for agricultural purposes. Adding compost to the soil increases soil permeability. Increased soil permeability reduces fertilizer waste, reduces irrigation requirements and improves the over-all health of plants. Generally, soil with compost will increase in productivity while soil without compost will gradually decline in productivity.

As soil permeability improves, water is more able to soak down into the soil. As the water soaks into the soil, it draws oxygen and nitrogen down with it. Because water soaks deeper into the soil, less irrigation is required. Less irrigation means less run-off.

Roots of plants grow deeper in lighter, more permeable soils. Deeper roots mean that plants are more able to endure stress and more likely to produce a healthy crop. Also, deeper roots mean that plants are more able to draw nutrients from deeper in the ground.

Compost improves the ability of the soil to convert fertilizer to more useful forms for plant growth. Compost provides some nutrient to the soil, but possibly more importantly, it reduces the need for chemical fertilizers by reducing waste.

Culturing Bokashi Bacteria

While it is possible to purchase a bokashi bacteria culture, it’s also simple and easy for most people to develop and maintain their own culture. There are several videos that outline the process for you, showing the steps that are necessary to grow your own bokashi culture.

Bokashi bacteria culturing method

In order to grow your own culture, follow these steps:

Make your base – Mix sugar and water, or molasses and water, in a container with a mesh covering. The mixture should only be slightly sweet. Air should be able to reach the liquid, but insects should not.

Leave the base in a cool, well-ventilated space – The base will begin to grow all kinds of interesting stuff in it. Only leave the base out for a 4 days to a week. This is sufficient time to collect a culture of environmental

Once you have a successful culture, clarify the culture – If the base is covered with a black mold, throw it out and try again. Clarifying the culture produces a culture that is high in lactic acid bacteria and low in opportunistic organisms, like pathogenic molds and yeasts. These are the steps for clarifying:

Shake the mixture – Put a lid on the mixture, or put it in a closed container, mix it up

Ferment – Mix a small portion of the base with a larger quantity of fresh milk (1:10 ratio) and allow it to ferment. Place it in a dark location that isn’t too hot or too cold for a week or two.

Siphon – After the mixture has fully fermented, there should be some separation. The thicker part will float to the top and there will be some cloudiness on the bottom of the container. The clear part in the middle is called “the serum” and contains a healthy population of bacterias and yeasts that are generally symbiotic, meaning that they work well together. The easiest way to get the serum out is by using a piece of tubing to siphon it out.

Culture the ferment – Mix some of the serum with a fermentation mix and allow it to ferment for a week or so. Keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t build up too much pressure. One recipe for a fermentation mix is:

3/4 Cup unsulfured molasses

1 Gallon water

A bokashi bacteria culture, collected and cultured in this manner can be used for many different purposes in agriculture.

Purchasing a bokashi compost bacteria culture

The most popular bokashi bacteria culture is EM1, a bokashi bacteria culture offered for sale by Teraganix. It is also possible to purchase and use other common lactic acid bacteria products for bokashi composting. Commercially prepared kefir, for instance, often contains 20 or more different strains of lactic acid bacteria. Specifically, products that contain live cultures of lactobacillus casei are especially useful.

Developing a commercially available bokashi bacteria culture

Culturing a potential lactic acid bacteria culture is often as simple as introducing a sample of the culture to a container full of sugar water. Unsulfured molasses and water is the preferred medium for a culture, but there are other possible sources for food for the bacteria. The container and the medium (sugar water) should be reasonably sterile, especially since commercially available lactic acid bacteria products are often stored for long periods of time, resulting in a weaker bacteria culture.

Signs of a healthy bokashi bacteria culture

Within a few days, the culture should begin to show signs of fermentation such as:

Gas release – A properly fermenting medium may release a small quantity of CO2 gas. This gas reduces the oxygen in the environment near the culture, and it may cause high pressure in a sealed container. Especially when starting a new or fresh culture, you may want to use an airlock to reduce pressure, or leave the cap on loosely to reduce pressure build-up. A tightly sealed container, with a fresh culture has the potential to explode, making a loud noise and a big mess.

Aroma of fermentation – A properly fermenting culture will have an aroma of fresh beer or fermenting apple cider. Furthermore, it’s a warm kind of smell and it smells sort of like an old farm.

Settling – If molasses is used as the culturing medium, then there will be some settling of particulates in the bottom of the container as the culture grows and develops.

Change in color – Molasses and water makes a very dark brown liquid. As the culture grows, the color of the culture will lighten.

White film on top – A white film may form on the top of some cultures as time progresses. This is a normal sign of a healthy culture.

Other uses for bokashi composting bacteria

The goal is to collect the lactic acid bacteria out of the environment and culture them for various uses. A successful culture can have many interesting uses, such as:

Reducing odors – Bokashi bacteria cultures are useful for reducing all kinds of agricultural odors. Mix a dilute culture (1:30 ratio) and apply to livestock pens, manure piles, septic pools/tanks etc. If the bacteria is effective against that specific odor, there will be an immediate marked difference and a continued, long-term benefit. For particularly intense odors, an increase in the quantity of culture may be required.

Preserving forage – Traditional silage methods can be applied to various types of forage to increase digestibility and facilitate storage using bokashi compost bacteria.

Fermenting foods – Live culture foods, like sauerkraut, kim chi and kefir have been made for centuries using similar environmental lactic acid bacteria and other symbiotic organisms. The use of bokashi bacteria cultures is merely a slight variation from the traditional methods used.

A nice green clover lawn can be a source of great pride for a homeowner. Making a soft, green area for your children to play can be tedious and it can consume excessive resources. Clovers can reduce the need for mowing, fertilizing and even irrigation. There are some really great resources available to help learn about growing a clover lawn and plenty of places to purchase clover seed for adding to your lawn.

Clovers are from a class of plants that are known as legumes. Leguminous plants are able to draw atmospheric nitrogen out of the air and lock it into the soil, making it available for other plants. Clovers also develop deep root systems that are able to help sustain the plants through dry periods and increase the stability of moisture in the top-soil.

Planting your clover lawn

If your current lawn is just a big tangle of weeds and unsightly grasses, then you may want to rototill your lawn and start over with bare soil. Once you get the ground tilled, you’ll also want to flatten the ground so that the new lawn will be fairly level when you’re done.

Covering with compost

You may also want to add a layer of compost or top-soil after you seed. Most lawn seeds do not require sunlight to germinate, and a layer of compost can protect the young seedlings and give them a head-start, while too much compost can prevent them from emerging. If you’re planning on adding a layer of compost, first smooth and tamp the soil, then lay your seed, then add no more then a half-inch of compost. Compost also provides root-safe nutrients (non-burning) to improve the establishment of the new seedlings.

Overseeding your clover lawn

If you have an existing lawn that is relatively low in weeds, you may want to consider overseeding your lawn with small-leaved white clover seed. Small-leaved clovers are capable of increasing available nitrogen to a lawn while improving the drought resistance of a lawn.

Overseeding is a great way to improve the look of your lawn with only a small expenditure of cash and time. Overseeding can be effective for repairing damaged areas, or for a lawn that is recovering from drought or disease.

Purchasing clover seeds

Make sure that you purchase your seeds from only a reputable dealer. Some dealers will sell normal dutch white clover seeds as micro-leaf or mini-leaf clover since they are so similar and true mini-leaf clover is much more expensive. Normal dutch-white clover isn’t necessarily intrusive in a lawn with normal mowing, but if you pay for micro-leaf, you should make sure that you’re getting what you pay for.

Innoculating clover seed

Some vendors pre-innoculate clover seed with bacteria that help the plant to lock nitrogen in the soil. These innoculants can be beneficial if you are attempting to grow clover in a place that didn’t previously have clover. The bacteria are fairly common in most healthy soils, so you may not need it.

Some seed vendors will pre-inoculate the seed and coat it with a moisture retaining substance that improves germination rates. These coatings are usually around %30 of the total weight of the seed.

Mixing clover with other lawn grasses

For uniformity, you may want to attempt to seed your lawn with only white clover. Unfortunately, this isn’t recommended since it isn’t likely that the clover will establish a complete coverage. Mixes of grasses and clovers tend to develop a beneficial relationship that will result in more consistent coverage. For example, clovers fix nitrogen in the soil, and the grasses use it for healthy growth.

Some specific lawn grasses that are compatible with a clover lawn:

Other alternative lawns

Other possible lawn mixes are flowering lawn mixes, herb lawn mixes and low-growing lawn mixes that don’t require regular mowing. Flowering lawn mixes and herb lawn mixes generally use plants that tolerate mowing to maintain that tidy lawn appearance. Low-growing mixes use grasses that normally only grow a few inches tall so that they don’t require

Deeppeep was a website that attempted to mine deep web sources such as databases for answers to your queries. Started by the National Science Foundation and The University of Utah, sometime around 2009 and running as a beta test until sometime around 2012, the search engine attempted to run queries for you on databases within one of several “specialties”, or areas of expertise.

Increasingly, search engines such as duckduckgo are attempting various algorithms to help sift through the ever increasing deluge of information that the internet offers us. Ironically enough, as soon as an interface or website increases our access to information, it is no longer only available on the deep web, since it has been delivered to the top level of the internet as the results of a search.

Regardless, the availability of information is constantly increasing with a growing number of various types of search engines becoming easier and easier to find and access. Different types of search engines are even becoming common, such as visual search engines, crowd-sourced search engines and search services.

Gaining access to the hidden web is actually fairly easy, but finding the information that you’re searching for may have only gotten more difficult as the different types of engines and the vast differences in the types of information that are returned seems to have only increased.

Finding relief from a muscle cramp consists of several different steps. Herbs can help to relieve the pain, soothe the muscle and return the muscle to normal operation. Naturally recovering from the cramp involves several parts:

Reduce the pain

Relax the muscle

Improve the circulation

Provide nutrients for rebuilding muscle

Reducing the pain

Reducing the pain is not always necessary. Many times, people spend excessive resources reducing pain, when the level of pain is bearable, but uncomfortable. Pain is the body’s way of communicating with us. Listen to your body.

The easiest, most common herbal ingredients for reducing muscle pain are ginger and/or turmeric. Dried or candied forms of these medicinal roots can be used, but the fresh form is generally considered better. Ginger and turmeric have been used for centuries to reduce pain and are also beneficially in many other ways.

Cayenne pepper has also been used to naturally reduce pain. Look for an ointment that contains capsaicin, a substance in hot peppers that provides heat, or make your own. Capsaicin can provide relief from some types of pain.

Relax the muscle

Some common methods for relaxing tensed muscles are:

Massage

Warm bath

Camphor ointment

Valerian

Hops

Stretching

Movement, such as swimming

Feed the muscle

Some types of cramping and tension are caused by a nutritional deficiency in magnesium or potassium. Eating yogurt or a banana can help to reduce these types of cramps.

Also, water is an important part of our bodies and the natural processes that are involved with day to day operation of these complicated machines that human’s call “our bodies”. Drinking plenty of water helps our bodies to get rid of toxic chemicals. Drinking water is probable the most important thing that you can do to help your body get rid of toxins.

Sports drinks are becoming more common. Many people drink them because they are high in caffeine and nutrients and support increased activity and alertness at work, but now there is some evidence that they may not be good for your long-term health. What is it about the sports drinks that help people to stay active?

Some common ingredients for sports drinks are:

Choline – Found in beef liver, cauliflower, eggs and brewer’s yeast, choline is an important part of cell membranes and it is used in the formation of various parts of the brain and nerve cells. Other foods that contain choline are fatty fish, garbanzo beans, peas and other legumes as well as in cruciferous vegetables.

Inositol – Actually a sugar alcohol, inositol contributes sweetness without adding sugar. Inositol is present in many foods and is used in a variety of biological processes and systems inside the body. There is no FDA recommendation for daily intake.

Taurine – A very common compound in the human body, taurine has been proven to have many benefits and uses. It is necessary for many biological systems including skeletal systems and the central nervous system.

Caffeine – Well known to help people stay alert, caffeine can also cause jitters and sleeplessness when consumed in excessive quantities.

B-Vitamins – Found in many nutritious foods, like leafy greens and beans and whole grains, b-vitamins are important for many of your body’s natural processes. Your body uses these water-soluble vitamins for generating energy, among other things. Healthy levels of vitamins like riboflavin and niacin are associated with heart health and a healthy metabolism.

Energy drinks have come under scrutiny in the news lately due to some statistical connections with health problems and excessive consumption of energy drinks. While some of the chemicals in energy drinks are known to cause some health problems, some of the ingredients are to be important components to healthy living.

Is it possible to get the benefits of these compounds by consuming organic extracts and plant materials? It is possible for a person to achieve higher health and optimum stamina and activity levels by learning about what things benefit your health and by locating organic sources for those compounds.

Enjoy your energy drinks responsibly, and be aware of your consumption of sugar, caffeine and artificial sweeteners. Be careful and aware of your health.